Action producing means for musical instruments



May 13, 1952 H. s. PORTOGALLO ACTION PRODUCING MEANS FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed March 31, 1950 jive/27w- 1%)77 J. PorfymM/o y 1952 H. s. PORTOGALLO 2,596,866

ACTION PRODUCING MEANS FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS Filed March 31, 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 natu ed axSWQQ-up illu dia Fi ur ,.a.v .t q iden ica l al n th liae-B .Q j F e:

Patented May 13, 1952 eACTIONP-RODUCING MEANS FOR MUSICAL P m m s-TfiUMENTs' V wh Lqa a s s Ca Application March 31, 195i), Serial-No, 153,069

a1 -'1? r i ventio a elate a o a aQ iQnnrqduc a a p music l i stru en an mere-n u a c yra a a tanhm or o pian i zt n h Qhr Qlls ar a paren y wlhep marycobi t o t einvent oni t afior i amusement and entertainment as the; instrument His-bein ;nlaye han t ro id visu l ywe l as .raud blelen ertainm n I -,-2 a a ;;Figure;- fi-w is, a. diagrammatic-ov iew. f the; Q1??- tricalacircui-t, employed .in connection, with; this device.

@Beferrine to th id awi s in td tail a oy pi n n si nate general y 21 11 ;eq p e vwith a: ca i i l1QUSiFg4JtDe-IQ QSM: hi h; estmchtmth hammers {11 when .;the .;1 .eys :l; ar vde resse The keys it are mountedto rock-abouta horizontally d spose pivot-ba 2 a l; i l a cont m r-c object I is .;to detachably couple the ;;,tiqnal pl nner- :w'IfhQI p Lorine-p ano provi e s age t i h instr me t s th it ma e as y amoygd t e e rom f tran por atiq o jsto a e- 's i l turther o ec th inv iq et P2 dm -t s 1o v amu n ic t of i uressdan .na. sta eiand as e r a 'poss hlemew-= am p o hum ndanicersbov n eoth p tsi g b atta e 42v rnl yin thi ,inventi .wh e mbod mo i iits cf atii es'a mi iatu ta i etachabl coupled to a musical instrument such as a toy .piano, one or more movable figures suspended above said stage, and means coupled to the-ac- .tion ofthe toy piano and to the figuresfor mov- .ing the figures as the keys of the piano are depressed.

Other features include an electro rnagnet supported above said stage, a movablearmature associated with said electro-magnet, miniature figures suspended from the armature above said energize said magnet as the keys of the-piano are played and thereby causethefigures susof electrical power housed l within' the. case of the -Diano,;-a bus bar carried by the piano beneath the keysfthereof, contactscarried by the keys for engagement with the bus bar and leads connect- 1,which" ing the bus b'ar'with the electro-magnet and the contacts with the power source and the power so rc ithth l c oma ne In the drawings:

, Sta e, and electrical means connected-to theelec-EBG .tro-magnet and to the actionof the piano to feiialta ,the;%drawings.

-.-,With1 a horiz n lly; exte i g do e-t l??? ha 1iinaambedcledinitsnnpersuriacethe. nacsdean- :ta kmernbqrs-Qt and: 26 th purpose. c t-which w -m r -i iL Y na terl ppearwhich is connected thr ugh-themedium :of fizhn thrthecq tact i smbs y pmactmamb 4 ..a thes -sqnta mhersare ceup e rou h th amediummeil a 1 QpQ LQQII -QW 'EQ newe um zzfi. as -n 9n ei r nc tqisfif eurefi l. .c

nal of the power source 28 is gonnecte th fpgh the medium of a conductor or lead 38;

-i bl astaeez fi vi .mqm cled,Witha i-th erep g 01121 102 male; hegstae v osth e understood l nen reter- -Th =stage tai provided .Wi h'a. :hood-A hhavirig in, itsintent iacegaf window pre erably,coveredrzbyea:transparent panel 48; by whi' .hgthe: inteni rcef.thezhousin may zbewiewed: :In the lireferred'ziorm of; the .intention, a.the interionof the housing is lined-with i the. 1pirrorse5.0;so that; objects ongor suspen'ded Fi ure 1 i a fr V of a y piano showing .45 .".a:b,Qye the. s.t-a|ge Willappea-rinimultiple.

this improii''d' at'tachment" mountd 'thereon for cooperation therewith; ri ei ri a tqp,. .en Y a #2 e denat Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line 4-4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken @Suspended" within ..-the=';;housing 1M iabove. the .stagififl is 1an.:electro..-i'nag-net 52- having; a movableearmatureifi t from' the.loweriend:.oLwhich is ..,susp'exidedgaosuitable zfigurersuspending frame; 56,

c .si'mulatingzhuman dancers. eOnel' terminal. of: the .electn')F-magmtl52. is coupled through the'mediu'm of a conductor or lead with a contact member '62 which is mounted in the bottom of the dove substantially along the line 55 of Figure 1; and tail groove 42 in such a position that when the stage 48 is in proper position on the piano case l2, the contact 62 will engage the contact 25, thus connecting the electro-magnet 52 with the power source through the conductor as. Mounted in the bottom of the dove tail groove 42 in spaced relation to the contact 62 is a contact 64 which is connected through the medium of a conductor 58 with the opposite terminal of the electro-magnet 52 and this contact member 64 engages the contact member 24, so that when a piano key 18 is depressed the electro-magnet 52 will be energized. It is to be noted that the dove tail 42 does not extend to the entire front edge of the stage, but terminates short thereof to form a stop 68 by which rearward movement of the stage relative to the piano case I2 is arrested so as to bring the contacts 26 and 62, and the contacts 24 and 64 into proper alignment to complete the electrical circuit.

In the preferred form of the invention the figure suspending means 55 comprises a disk which is supported on a group of radial cords H! which converge and are coupled to the armature 54 of the electro-magnet through a suitable eye 12 in order that as the armature moves, the figure suspending means will not only move in unison with it, but will also be free to rock about the lower end thereof.

In use the stage 4|] is mounted on the piano case as illustrated in Figure 3, and with a properly charged dry cell 28 coupled as previously described to the conductors or leads 36 and 38, it will be evident that as the piano is played, the contacts 34 on the keys l8 will engage the bus bar 30, thus energizing the electro-magnet 52 and causing the armature to vibrate and move the figures or dolls 58 to cause them to dance over the surface of the stage 4|].

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferred form of this invention, it is to be understood that minor changes in the details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

I claim:

1. In combination with a musical instrument having movable keys upon the depression of which musical sounds are produced, action producing means comprising a normally open electrical circuit including a power source, an electro-magnet in said circuit, said magnet having a movable armature adjacent said instrument, a dancing figure suspended from said armature,

. a bus bar carried by said instrument adjacent "the keys, said bus bar being connected to one open terminal of said electrical circuit, a contact carried by each key for engagement with the bus I a normally vopen'electrical circuit which includes a power source and an electro-magnet, said electro-magnet having a movable armature mounted above said stage, a dancing figure suspended from saidarmature, a bus bar mounted on the instrument adjacent the movable keys, said bus bar being connected to one open terminal of the electrical circuit, a contact carried by each key for engaging said bus bar when its respective key is depressed, and said contacts being connected to the opposite open terminal of the electrical circuit whereby when a key is depressed the circuit will be closed and the armature moved to cause the figure to move.

3. An attachment for a musical instrument having movable keys upon the depression of which musical sounds are produced comprising a miniature stage mounted on said instrument, a normally open electrical circuit which includes a power source and an electro-magnet, said electro-magnet having a movable armature mounted above said stage, a figure suspending frame carried by the armature above said stage, dancing figures suspended from said frame above said stage, a bus bar mounted on said instrument adjacent said movable keys, said bus bar being connected to one open terminal of the electrical circuit, a contact carried by each key for engaging said bus bar when its respective key is depressed, and said contacts being connected to the opposite open terminal of said electrical circuit whereby when a key is depressed the electrical circuit will be completed and the armature and figures will be moved.

4. In a musical instrument having movable keys upon the depression of which musical sounds are produced and a dove tail on the instrument for coupling an attachment thereto, an attachment for said instrument comprising a stage having a dove tail groove in its underside for receiving the dove tail on the instrument, movable figure suspending means above said stage, figures suspended from said figure suspending means, and means associated with the dove tails and the keys for actuating said figure suspending means when the keys are depressed.

5. In a musical instrument having movable keys upon the depression of which musical sounds are produced and a dove tail on the instrument for coupling an attachment thereto, an attachment for said instrument comprising a stage having a dove tail groove in its underside for receiving the dovetail on the instrument, a normally open electrical circuit which includes a power source and an electro-magnet above said stage, a movable armature carried by the electromagnet for movement thereby above said stage, a bus bar beneath the keys, said bus bar being connected to one open terminal of said circuit, a contact on each key, said contacts being connected to the opposite open terminal of said circuit whereby when a key is depressed the circuit will be closed through thee lectro-magnet, and separable contacts carried by the dove tail and a wall of the dove tail groove whereby the attachment may be detached from the instrument.

HENRY S. PORTOGALLO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: 

